Chicago Bears star Alshon Jefferey banned for violating NFL doping rules

CHICAGO Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery has been suspended for the NFL team’s next four games for violating the league’s PED policy.

CHICAGO Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery has been suspended for the NFL team’s next four games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substances policy, the club announced Monday.

Jeffery has caught 40 passes for 630 yards and a touchdown this season for the Bears, who are 2-7 after a 36-10 loss on Sunday at Tampa Bay. Jeffery made four catches for 47 yards in the defeat.

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The suspension, for specific substances that were not revealed under the NFL’s contract with its players’ union, will sideline Jeffery for games Sunday at the New York Giants, November 27 at home against Tennessee, at home December 4 against San Francisco and at Detroit on December 11.

Jeffery, a second-round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft who was given the franchise designation this season to make him among the league’s top-paid receivers, would be eligible to return for a December 18 home game against Green Bay.

“We’re obviously very disappointed,” Bears coach John Fox said. “We’re disappointed. We know Alshon is embarrassed by it. Disappointed would be a good word for the rest of us. Overall, disappointing would be the word I would use.

“I look at it like a lot of things we’ve been through already. We will have to have somebody else step up. We’ll treat it like an injury moving forward.” The Bears are set to welcome back receiver Marquess Wilson, who suffered a broken left foot late last season and broke the same foot again last June in pre-season workouts.

Originally published as Chicago Bears star Alshon Jefferey banned for violating NFL doping rules